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David Unger
David Unger (born November 6, 1950) is a Guatemalan-American poet and translator. Though he writes in English, he is considered to be among Guatemala's most important living writers. Life Unger was born in Guatemala City. In 1955 he immigrated to Hialeah, Florida, with his parents. Unger graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst with a B.A., and earned an M.F.A. in 1975 from Columbia University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York City, with his wife, the artist Anne Gilman. He teaches at the City College of New York and is the U.S. Representative for the Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara. He has translated 16 books into English, including 3 by Guatemalan Rigoberta Menchu (Groundwood Books), 2 by Cuban Teresa Cardenas (Groundwood Books), The Love You Promised Me by Mexican Silvia Molina (Curbstone Press), First Love by Mexican Elena Garro (Curbstone Press), and The Dead Leaves by Mexican Barbara Jacobs (Curbstone Press). He is the editor and the main translator of Nicanor Parra's Poems and Anti-Poems (New Directions), the most complete collection of this important Chilean poet, and contributed to Enrique Lihn's The Dark Room (New York: New Directions, 1978) and Roque Dalton's Short Hours of the Night (Willimantic: Curbstone Press). Recognition David Unger was awarded Guatemala's Miguel Angel Asturias National Prize in Literature in 2014 for lifetime achievement – the 1st author writing in English to win a major Latin American literature award.David Unger, Amazon.com. Web, Jan. 29, 2019. Publications Poetry *''Neither Caterpillar nor Butterfly: Poems''. New York: Es Que Somos Muy Pobres Press, 1986. Novels *''Life in the Damn Tropics: A novel''. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2002; Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004. *''The Price of Escape''. New York: Akashic Books, 2011. *''The Mastermind''. Brooklyn, NY: Akashic Books, 2016. Translated *Enrique Lihn, The Dark Room, and other poems (translated with Jonathan Cohen & John Felstiner). New York: New Directions, 1978. *Vicente Aleixandre, World Alone = Mundo a solas (translated with Lewis Hyde; illustrated by Michael McCurdy). Great Barrington, MA: Penmaen Press, 1982. *Nicanor Parra, Antipoems: New and selected. New York: New Directions, 1985. *Elena Garro, First Love / Look for my obituary: Two novels. Willimantic, CT: Curbstone Press, 1997. *Silvia Mollina, The Love You Promised Me: A novel. . Willimantic, CT: Curbstone Press, 1999. *Rigoberta Menchu, with Dante Liano, The Girl from Chimel (illustrated by Domi). Toronto: Anansi / Groundwood, 2005. *Teresa Cárdenas Angulo, Old Dog. Toronto: Groundwood / Anansi, 2007. *Rigoberta Menchu, with Dante Liano, The Secret Legacy (illustrated by Domi). Toronto: Anansi / Groundwood, 2008. *Teresa Cardenas, Letters to My Mother. New York: Groundwood, 2011. Edited *Nicanor Parra Sandoval, Antipoems: New and selected (translated by Lawrence Ferlinghetti). New York: New Directions, 1985. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:David Unger, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Oct. 16, 2016. Other languages Unger is also the author of La Casita (Mexico: CIDCLI, 2012), Para mi, eres divina (Mexico: Random House Mondadori, 2011), and Ni chicha, ni limonada (F y G Editores, 2009; Recorded Books, 2010). Life in the Damn Tropics has also been published in Spanish (Mexico: Plaza y Janes, 2004) and Chinese (Taipei: Locus Publishers, 2006). and Neither Caterpillar Nor Butterfly (New York: Es Que Somos Muy Pobres Press, 1985). See also *List of U.S. poets *Poets of other languages References External links ;Poems *"Letters from a Poet Who Sleeps in a Chair" (by Nicanor Parra, translated by Unger) ;Prose *Ghostwriting Gabo - an essay by David Unger in Guernica ;Books *David Unger at Amazon.com ;About *Telling Tales: David Unger, interview at KGB Bar Lit magazine. *"The City and the Writer: In Guatemala City, with David Unger" interview, Worlds without Borders, 2014 Category:American translators Category:City College of New York faculty Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Guatemalan Jews Category:Guatemalan writers Category:Guatemalan emigrants to the United States Category:People from Guatemala City Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Jewish American novelists Category:Spanish–English translators Category:21st-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Translators to English Category:American academics Category:American poets Category:Guatemalan poets Category:Spanish-language poets